Cart for Ultrasound Diagnostic Apparatus and Ultrasound Diagnostic Unit

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-045887, filed 22 Mar. 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The present disclosure relates to a cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasound diagnostic unit, and particularly to a technique for adjusting a height of a seat of the cart.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is used in an ultrasound examination of a living body. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is a medical apparatus that generates and displays an ultrasound image based on a received signal obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves. A tomographic image is known as a representative ultrasound image.

Portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses are being used. Examples of such portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses include a laptop type ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, which can be carried in a user's hand. In addition, the portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatuses are often used after being placed on a cart. A laptop type portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is moved to a position right beside a subject after being placed on a cart and the portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is opened and operated in a state where the portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is placed on the cart such that a probe is extended up to a subject and ultrasound waves are transmitted and received to and from the subject.

WO2013/046907, JP2012-65697A, JP2013-172777A, and JP2017-192502A disclose a cart (also referred to as a carriage) to which an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is attachable and detachable. JP2017-421A discloses a configuration in which an intermediate seat is provided on a columnar support of a carriage, and a tablet computer as an auxiliary input device can be placed thereon, in relation to an ultrasound diagnostic system.

In a cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is placed on a seat. In a case where an operator operates the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on the cart, the operator may want to adjust a height of the seat. In addition, in a case where the cart is transported to a place away from the original place, it may be desired to adjust the height of the seat. There is a demand for a cart in which the height of the seat can be easily adjusted.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus or an ultrasound diagnostic unit, in which a height of a seat is easily adjustable.

A cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present disclosure comprises a seat on which a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is placed; a handle connected to the seat; a columnar support that supports the seat to be raisable and lowerable; a raising and lowering operation portion for raising and lowering the seat; a plurality of leg portions that support the columnar support; and casters disposed on the leg portions, in which the handle includes a front handle disposed in front of the seat and a rear handle disposed behind the seat, and the raising and lowering operation portion includes a front operation portion disposed below the front handle and a rear operation portion disposed below the rear handle.

An ultrasound diagnostic unit according to the present disclosure comprises the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus; and a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus placed on the seat of the cart.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to easily adjust the height of the seat in the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus or the ultrasound diagnostic unit.

Hereinafter, the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment described herein. In all of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will not be repeated. In this specification, unless otherwise specified, directions represented by arrows X, Y, and Z inwill be referred to as “a forward direction”, “a rightward direction”, and “an upward direction”, and directions opposite thereto will be referred to as “a rearward direction”, “a leftward direction”, and “a downward direction”. A direction along the arrow Z coincides with a direction in which the gravity acts, that is, a vertical direction.

A cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment comprises a seat on which a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is placed, a handle connected to the seat, a columnar support that supports the seat to be raisable and lowerable, a raising and lowering operation portion for raising and lowering the seat, a plurality of leg portions that support the columnar support, and a caster disposed on the leg portion. The handle includes a front handle disposed in front of the seat and a rear handle disposed behind the seat. The raising and lowering operation portion includes a front operation portion disposed below the front handle and a rear operation portion disposed below the rear handle.

According to the above configuration, since the front operation portion is provided below the front handle, a user (for example, an operator) can easily adjust a height of the seat by operating the front operation portion with a finger in a state where a hand is placed on the front handle. In addition, since the rear operation portion is provided below the rear handle, the user (for example, an operator who transports the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus) can easily adjust the height of the seat by operating the rear operation portion with a finger in a state where the hand is placed on the rear handle.

In the embodiment, the front operation portion is a push-button disposed below the center of the front handle in the lateral direction. The seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable is unlocked in a case where the push-button is pressed. Note that the expression “being locked to be unraisable and unlowerable” means a state where the seat is restricted from being raised and lowered and is locked such that the seat cannot be raised and lowered. The expression “the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable is unlocked” means that the seat is made raisable and lowerable.

According to a configuration as described above, a user (for example, an operator) can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable by pressing the push-button with a thumb in a state where a hand is placed on a left portion or a right portion of the front handle. In addition, the user also can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable by pressing the push-button with the thumbs of both hands in a state where both hands placed on the right and left portions of the front handle.

In the embodiment, the rear operation portion is a lever disposed below the rear handle. The seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable is unlocked in a case where the lever is pulled up. With this configuration, for example, the user (for example, the operator of the cart) can pull up the lever with four fingers excluding the thumb in a state where the wrist is placed on the rear handle, and can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable.

In the embodiment, the lever that is the rear operation portion may include two lever elements. The two lever elements are disposed at interval in the lateral direction. The seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable is unlocked by pulling up at least one of the two lever elements. With this configuration, the user (for example, the operator of the cart) can pull up one lever element with four fingers excluding the thumb in a state where the wrist is placed on a left portion or a right portion of the rear handle, and can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable. In addition, the user can pull up each of the two lever elements with each of both hands in a state where both wrists of both hands are placed on the left portion and right portion of the rear handle to unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable.

In the embodiment, the columnar support includes an upper columnar support to which the seat is connected, a lower columnar support disposed below the upper columnar support, and a gas spring disposed therein. The columnar support has a structure that expands and contracts by inserting one of the upper columnar support and the lower columnar support into the other. One end of the gas spring is fixed to the seat, and the other end of the gas spring is fixed to the lower columnar support or a support body below the lower columnar support. The gas spring includes an unlocking pin. The gas spring fixes the seat to the lower columnar support in a non-operative state of the unlocking pin. That is, the seat is locked to be unraisable and unlowerable. The gas spring releases the fixation to the lower columnar support of the seat (unlocks the state of being locked to be unraisable and unlowerable) in an operative state of the unlocking pin, and biases the seat upward with respect to the lower columnar support. The front operation portion or the rear operation portion causes the unlocking pin to change from the non-operative state to the operative state by being operated.

According to the above-described configuration, in a case where the unlocking pin is changed to the operative state by the operation of the front operation portion or the rear operation portion, the descent of the seat can be suppressed, and the seat can be raised by a light force of the user.

In the embodiment, the handle comprises side handles disposed on the right and left sides of the seat. The handles are connected to each other so as to surround the seat. With this configuration, for example, the user can finely adjust the position of the cart or make the cart revolve while gripping the front handle or the rear handle with one hand and gripping the side handle with the other hand.

The ultrasound diagnostic unit according to the embodiment comprises the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus placed on a seat of the cart.

A cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to another embodiment comprises a seat on which a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is placed, a handle connected to the seat, a columnar support that supports the seat to be raisable and lowerable, a push-button for raising and lowering the seat, a plurality of leg portions that support the columnar support, and a caster disposed on the leg portion. The handle includes a front handle disposed in front of the seat. The push-button is disposed below the center of the handle in the lateral direction. The seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable is unlocked in a case where the push-button is pressed.

According to a configuration as described above, a user (for example, an operator) can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable by pressing the push-button with a thumb in a state where a hand is placed on a left portion or a right portion of the front handle. In addition, the user (for example, the operator of the cart) can unlock the seat locked to be unraisable and unlowerable by extending the hand to the front of the cart and pressing the push-button in a case where the user is behind the cart.

In the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to another embodiment, the handle may comprise a side handle disposed on the right and left sides of the seat, and a rear handle disposed behind the seat.

An ultrasound diagnostic unit according to another embodiment comprises the cart for an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the above-described another embodiment and a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus placed on a seat of the cart.

shows an ultrasound diagnostic unitaccording to the embodiment. The ultrasound diagnostic unit is installed in a medical institution such as a hospital and is used for an ultrasound examination of a subject.is a perspective view of a front surface and a right side surface of an ultrasound diagnostic unit.is a perspective view of a rear surface and a left side surface of the ultrasound diagnostic unit.is a right-side view of the ultrasound diagnostic unit.is a plan view of the ultrasound diagnostic unit.

The ultrasound diagnostic unitcomprises a cartfor an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and a portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus(hereinafter, referred to as an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus) placed on a seatof the cart. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis attachably and detachably mounted on a seatof the cart.show an upper portion of the cartin a state in which the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis detached.

As shown in, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis a laptop type. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatuscomprises an operation portionand a display portion. The operation portionand the display portionare connected to each other by a hinge. The display portioncan be closed toward the operation portionabout a hinge. In, the display portionis in an open state. The display portioncomprises a display main bodyhaving a display unit that faces forward in a state in which the display portionis opened.

The operation portioncomprises a touch paneland a button portion. The button portioncomprises an upper surface, a plurality of buttons, and a trackball. The plurality of buttons are indicated by a plurality of small squares, circles, or the like in. The trackballis positioned in the center in the lateral direction, and the user can operate the trackballin a state in which the wrist is placed on the palm rest. A connector portion(port) to which a connector of the probe is connected and an air discharge portionthrough which air for cooling the inside of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis discharged are provided on a right-side portion of the operation portion. In addition, as shown in, a connector portion(port) to which a connector of various machines is connected and another air discharge portionare provided on a left-side portion of the operation portion.

As shown in, the cartcomprises a seat, a handle, a columnar support, a raising and lowering operation portion, a support body, two leg portions, and four casters.

The handleis connected to the seat. As shown in, the handlecomprises a front handleF disposed in front of the seat, side handlesS disposed on the right and left sides of the seat, and a rear handleR disposed behind the seat. The handlesare connected to each other so as to surround the seat. With this configuration, for example, the user can finely adjust the position of the cartor make the cartrevolve while gripping the front handleF or the rear handleR with one hand and gripping the side handleS with the other hand.

The rear handleR is cut out at a center portion in the lateral direction, and is divided in the lateral direction. The rear handleR consists of a left rear handle elementR and a right rear handle elementR. The left rear handle elementR extends to the right side from an end portion of the left side handleS. The right rear handle elementR extends to the left side from an end portion of the right side handleS.

As shown in, the handleis bonded to the seatby the palm restand two connection portionsand.

As shown in, the front handleF extends in the lateral direction. Both end portions of the front handleF are bent in a rearward and downward oblique direction to be connected to the side handleS. As shown in, each of the right and left side handlesS includes a front portionSthat is connected to the front handleF and inclined rearward and downward, a main body portionSthat extends rearward from a rear end of the front portionS, and a rear portionSthat extends rearward from a rear end of the main body portionS. The main body portionSof the side handleS is inclined upward from the front toward the rear. The rear portionSof the side handleS is steeply inclined upward as compared with the main body portionS. As shown in, an end portion of the rear portionSof the side handleS is bent inward in the lateral direction of the cartand is connected to the rear handle elementR. As shown in, the rear handle elementR is provided at a position higher than the front handleF.

The cross-sectional outer shape of the handlehas a flat oval shape. The front handleF and the rear handleR are disposed such that flat surfaces of the front handleF and the rear handleR face a vertical direction. The two side handlesS are disposed such that flat surfaces of the side handlesS face a lateral direction.

As shown in, the columnar supportsupports the seatto be raisable and lowerable. The columnar supportcomprises an upper columnar supportto which the seatis connected, a lower columnar supportdisposed below the upper columnar support, and a gas spring(see) disposed inside the upper columnar supportand the lower columnar support. As shown in, the upper columnar supporthas a smaller width and a smaller thickness in the front-rear direction than the lower columnar support. The columnar supporthas a structure that expands and contracts by inserting the upper columnar supportinto the lower columnar support

As shown in, the raising and lowering operation portioncomprises a front operation portionF and a rear operation portionR. The front operation portionF is a push-button disposed below the front handleF. The push-buttonF is disposed below the center of the front handleF in the lateral direction. The rear operation portionR is a lever disposed below the rear handleR. In particular, in this embodiment, the rear operation portionR is two lever elements. The columnar supportlocked to be unexpandable and uncontractable (locked to be unraisable and unlowerable) is unlocked by pressing the push-buttonF or the pulling up at least one of the two lever elementsR, and the seatcan be raised and lowered.

According to this configuration, the operator can adjust the height of the seatby pressing the push-buttonF with the thumb in a state where the hand is placed on, for example, the left portion or the right portion of the front handleF. The operator can adjust the height of the seatby pressing the push-buttonF even in a state of being seated on the right side or the left side of the front side of the cart, for example. In addition, the operator of the cartcan adjust the height of the seatby pulling up each of the two lever elements with each of both hands in a state where both wrists of both hands are placed on the two rear handle elementsR, for example. The operator of the cartcan adjust the height of the seatby operating the two lever elementsR according to, for example, the height of the operator, and can grip the rear handleR to transport the cart.

As shown in, the support bodyis disposed below the lower columnar support. The two leg portionsare disposed at interval in the lateral direction and are connected to the support body. Each of the two leg portionsextends in the front-rear direction and supports the columnar supportvia the support body. In each of the two leg portions, the castersare disposed on bottom surfaces of both end portions of the leg portionin the front-rear direction.

As shown in, the seatcomprises a binding operation portionused to bind the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusto the seat, the binding operation portionbeing provided at a rear surface that faces a region below a gap region between the two rear handle elementsR. The binding operation portionis a member having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and comprises a rotational movement shaftprovided at a lower portion thereof. The binding operation portionrotationally moves about the rotational movement shaftto enter a non-binding state where an upper portion thereof is separated from the rear surface of the seator a binding state where the upper portion is close to the rear surface of the seat.

In a case where the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis to be mounted to the seat, first, the binding operation portionis caused to enter the non-binding state. Then, a rear portion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis placed on the seatin a state where a front portion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis inclined downward and the front portion is aligned with a specified position of a front portion of the seat. Thereafter, the state of the binding operation portionis changed to the binding state. Accordingly, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis bound to the seat. The front portion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis bound to the seatvia a structure (for example, a hook and a groove) that is partially hooked on the seat. In a case where the state of the binding operation portionis changed from the non-binding state to the binding state, the rear portion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusis bound to the seatwith a pin protruding from the seatand inserted into a hole in a rear surface of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

As shown in, the seatcomprises a palm restconnected to the front handleF. As shown in, the palm restis disposed in front of the operation portionof the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusand in the center in the lateral direction. The palm restis positioned between the front handleF and the operation portionof the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus. As shown in, the front handleF, the palm rest, and the upper surfaceof the operation portion of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus form a continuous upper surface. As a result, the operator can operate the ultrasound diagnostic apparatusby placing the wrist on the front handleF and the palm rest.

As shown in, the seatcomprises a housingand a top plateattached to the housing. The housingis formed in a dish shape and has an inner space.each show a part of the seat(the inner space of the housing) in a state where the top plateis detached. A mechanism for raising and lowering the seatis disposed in the inner space of the housing.

As described above, the gas springis disposed inside the columnar support. As shown in, one end of the gas springis fixed to the seat. The other end (not shown) of the gas springis fixed to the lower columnar support(see) or the support bodybelow the lower columnar support. As shown in, the gas springcomprises an unlocking pin. The gas springfixes the seatto the lower columnar supportin a non-operative state of the unlocking pin(see). The gas springreleases the fixation of the seatto the lower columnar supportin an operative state of the unlocking pin(see) and biases the seatupward with respect to the lower columnar support. The push-buttonF (front operation portion) or the two lever elementsR (rear operation portion) is operated to change the unlocking pinfrom the non-operative state to the operative state.

According to this configuration, in a case where the push-buttonF or the two lever elementsR are operated, the seatis biased upward with respect to the lower columnar support, so that the unintended descent of the seatcan be suppressed and the seatcan be raised with a light force of the user. The user can lower the seatby pushing down the seatagainst the biasing of the gas springupward with respect to the seatby operating the push-buttonF or the two lever elementsR. In addition, the user can raise the seatonly by operating the push-buttonF or the two lever elementsR or only by lightly lifting the seatin addition to the operation.

shows the inside of the housingin a state where the push-buttonF is not pressed.shows the inside of the housingin a state where the push-buttonF is pressed. The seatcomprises a link, a pin swinging body, and a holding portionof the pin swinging body. The linkcomprises a link main bodyand a tip portion. The link main bodyis a member extending in the front-rear direction. The push-buttonF is connected to one end of the link main body. A tip portionis connected to the other end of the link main body

The housinghas a plurality of ribs on the bottom wall, and the support portions,, andof the link main bodyare formed by cutting out a part of each rib.

The seatcomprises a tension spring. One end of the tension springis connected to a connection portionfixed to the link main body. The other end of the tension springis connected to a fixing portionfixed to the bottom wall of the housing. In, for convenience of illustration, the other end of the tension springis connected to the fixing portionvia a one-dot chain line (denoted by reference numeral), but in practice, the other end of the tension springis directly connected to the fixing portion. Although not shown in, the tension springis in a slightly stretched state regardless of the pressing of the push-buttonF. In addition, in a state where the push-buttonF is pressed (), the tension springis more stretched than in a state where the push-buttonF is not pressed ().

The push-buttonF is disposed in the holeprovided in the seat. The push-buttonF is biased forward by a tension springconnected to the link main body. The push-buttonF and the seathave a restriction structure (for example, a hook structure formed of a protruding portion and a groove) that restricts excessive forward movement of the push-buttonF.

As shown in, in a case where the push-buttonF is pressed, the linkis moved forward, and the tip portionof the linkpushes the pin swinging body. In addition, as shown in, in a case where the pressing of the push-buttonF is released, the push-buttonF returns to the initial position by the biasing force of the tension spring, and the tip portionof the linkis in a state of not pushing the pin swinging body.